Foreign recruiting haters - explain something to me

Honestly, most coaches/athletes/parents that complain about foreigners do not have a clue or are upset that their team/own self/son-daughter is getting beat by someone from another country.

It is laughable that some insist a foreigner takes less work to develop or that they need less attention. This could not be more off base. Whether you are from the U.S./Kenya/Britain/Europe/Oceania/etc. you still have to put in the miles and perform. You are not more inclined to success, perhaps they are working that much harder than the Americans. For many international athletes, running is their career, not just a hobby as it is for many Americans. They come to the U.S. and devote everything to becoming the best runner possible. There are obviously many Americans that do the same thing as well, but more seem to see running in college as something to do for scholarship or to pass time until they go into the "real world".

What many fail to grasp as well is that many programs the recruit internationally, recruit just as hard in the U.S. However, a Footlocker athlete does not want to consider many of these schools as they do not have the glitz and glamour of Oregon, Stanford, Wisconsin, etc. Therefore, they will recruit a foreigner who will work his tail off to be successful. Why pass on a FL quality kid from another country because an American wants to sit on the bench at Oregon or Stanford?

Some of the best coaches in the NCAA belong at such schools but do not get the respect because they can not get the best Americans to consider them. Also, look at how Mick's luck has changed at Wisconsin. I also find it alittle funny that they still recruit internationally now, when he has pick of the Americans and has gone against his recruiting stance at Iona.

I would really like to see what some coaches could replicate at a major conference school if given the chance.

the fault in your reasoning is this: the US has 0.3 billion people. the rest of the world has 5.7 billion people.

Surely you can see that it seems to be unfair on some level to go out to that much larger talent pool and bring in ringers. Some of whom don't have to work very hard to run 4:05 because of their massive talent.

I'd point to Sam Chelanga as an example of that - I read something once that he never trained all that hard in college.

Not even sure where to start but the ignorance is astounding! One - you read that he doesn't train hard?! Seriously? I have read a lot of things and not everything is true. He may or may not train hard. Plenty of Americans don't train hard, have a crappy entitled attitude,

It is such a loser attitude to assume a coach doesn't have to work hard if he has foreign athletes. Also to assume they are more talented is a defeatist loser attitude.

Its because building a program recruiting good American distance runners is much more of a challenge. Not as much with the sprints or throws. And if you can land blue-chip talent in those areas they compete well right away.

In D2 you would need a 14:10-15 college freshman to make any real impact and those guys were 9:10 high schoolers who were recruited heavily by D1 programs. The distance runners will walk on or accept a smaller scholarship to flock to a program that is established or the "hot thing" at the time. Even passing on a full scholarship at other schools.

Not so much with sprinters. And in D2 a 10.7 and 21.5 can step in immediately and make an impact. Those guys are all over the place. In high school they are the same level as the 9:10 2 milers but much easier to land. The 9:10 guys will nearly always go to a D1 program with a solid tradition or if not make their decision based on academics.

So for the collegiate track programs with little tradition or academic prestige and want to compete in cross country, you recruit some foreigners who have no built-in concept of the difference in prestige among American Universities.

Nobody cares about a few foreigners (esp english as a first language). Foreign legions are not nice.

Some coaches won't recruit africans. Others go for the best track times and could care less where they come from.

For me it's ease of communication. If I can't talk to someone with perspective about the whole range of a college experience then I don't think they should be at my school. It can't be about come to practice and nothing else.